Don't Quit: Who is the Author?
Comments by Anthony James - 24 Apr 2009

So far, in all my research, and I have done my fair share, no one has put
forth one iota of proof that ‘Don’t Quit’ was written by anyone but me! I
considered all the opposition by researching their ‘proof that someone else
wrote the poem’. Every single incident turned out to be either ‘vague or
completely ‘bogus’. There is simply no proof that would ever stand up in a
courtroom. So let this lack of proof, justifiably, leave everyone with an open
mind.

Here are two examples out of a few I received in my email box;

1) One man told me 'Don't Quit' was seen in the movie 'The Pride Of The
Yankees'. So I rented the movie and while there is a poem titled 'Don't Quit' in
the movie, not one word in the poem is legible on-screen? The 'Don't Quit' poem
from the movie 'The Pride Of The Yankees' is not listed or found anywhere on
Google?

2) Another man told me to buy a poetry book "Poems That Touch The Heart",
circa 1941, this book had a poem titled 'Don't Give Up'? That is not 'Don't
Quit' not to mention that every single verse was different from 'Don't Quit'?
Not even close! Nice try (good think I didn't just take the word of these men).

I put up my website,
http://dontquit.vpweb.com/ to tell the story of why I wrote 'Don't' Quit'.
Anyone who wishes to make a genuine case against my claim can put a website of
their own, with their money, and let’s not forget about ’proof’. Let the people
who read both sides of the argument about 'who wrote 'Don't Quit' decide for
themselves based on proof and testimony.

If anyone is truly interested in this poem, ‘Don’t Quit’, it’s time to take
it seriously. If you go to Google and type in this poem or an inquiry regarding
who wrote it you will more than likely come across the rants and ravings of a
mad woman whose name is “Rose DesRochers”. Rose has some rather strong,
negative, and at times vulgar remarks in tow when she writes about the author’s
who claimed to have written the poem ‘Don‘t Quit‘. Ask Rose why she cares so
much about this poem and you won’t get much of an answer? At least I never did?
Maybe Rose had planned on trying to claim the poem has her own? Well, a big part
of this blog is to discredit the discreditor. Rose DesRochers it is now your
time to be exposed. Rose owns/operates her own women’s writer’s website; http://rosedesrochers.todays-woman.net/
. It has always behooved me why a women who appears to be a responsible
business-women who has what appears to be a decent website with I’m sure a good
amount of members who pay money to be a member. Why would Rose DesRochers put
her name out on the web behind such vulgarity and pugnacious manners?

Is Rose one of these people who come along every once in a while who are
smart in their own right and in their own business but are then completely lost
(loose canon) when it comes to keeping themselves politically correct to
maintain a level of respect among their peers and the rest of the world, for
that matter. Okay, Rose does slander people and she’s quick to do it.

Rose has also had a run-in with another gentleman and this man
exposed Rose’s emails that she had written to him and in any event you have to
see this article before you ever grant Rose DesRochers even 1 grain of
credibility in anything she says about anyone!

Here is that link;
http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com/2007/09/16/a-psycho-by-any-other-name-the-rose-desrochers-experience/.
So, review those links and keep these things in mind.

Back to the article;

So, aside from the somewhat ‘notorious’ Rose DesRochers slander the only
opposition I’ve received has probably been Rose DesRochers fans from her
website. All of the remarks that oppose my claim of authorship for the poem
‘Don’t Quit’ have been for the most part anonymous e-comments in chat forums or
on individually posted web pages (Rose has a slander-web page up for me too). I
call these critiques of my integrity and character ‘hit-n-run’ ‘e-remarks’.
These ‘e-remarks’ are comments left on websites and they are usually anonymous
or written behind a ‘user-name’ which can be any combinations of letters and
numbers. So there is no accountability ever with regards to comments about me
online. None! Now for some common sense talk;

Until someone puts their money where their mouth is it should be known that
the authorship status of ‘Don’t Quit’ is ‘unknown’. How silly is it to just
believe an ‘anonymous’ opinion or comment on a website? It’s very silly and
naive! If someone goes through the trouble of making a comment about the poem,
ask them about their interest in the poem? See if they have anything intelligent
to say or if they are just responding to other negative comments already left
behind. It will surprise you how often this ‘follow-the-leader’ commenting goes
on, it’s contagious in comment forums. Don’t ever take anything said in a
comment box as a source you consider reliable. You don’t know who is leaving the
comment, it could be a total nut! Remember this and always question someone
leaving a comment if you feel the comment impacts upon your own curiosity or
beliefs. The other thing to consider when trying to get to the bottom of an
argument or mystery is see to observe who is putting ‘their money where their
mouth is’. No one who really doesn’t care about something will spend money on
it. So, if someone appears to be a ‘know-it-all’ with regard to a certain
subject ask them how they are getting their word/belief out to the world. If
they don’t have a real forum for expression, they are more than likely not
serious about it or even more likely not interested enough to even spend one
penny on it.

Here’s a tidbit of information;

Of all the talk around ‘Don’t Quit’ and all the ‘he-said’, ‘she-said’
regarding who wrote ‘Don’t Quit’, I am the only person out of all the
‘claimer’s’ who has invested my own money into getting my story out. This brings
me to the next interesting tidbit which is that I am the only person who has a
story about writing this poem? People throw names around, but there’s never a
story or explanation of any details? This is something that cannot be denied and
should seriously be considered if you are willing to invest any emotion into
this ‘Don’t Quit’ mystery. Please go to my website at http://dontquit.vpweb.com/
I try my best to detail every memory I have about writing this poem. And please
ask anyone else who claims that this poem is NOT mine to provide their proof. If
they don’t have it.. Just walk away!

Finally, I want to say that I understand the concept of ‘ambiguity’ very well
and I want you to have an open-mind with everything in this life. So, I’m not
telling you to believe me or you’re a bad person. Have an open-mind, read my
story and try to enjoy the adventure of it all.